


Uh huh. I totally believe you.

by ewinkie



Series: Zutara Drabble December 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And hopeful when she first walked into his room?, And why did he seem so sad about it?, F/M, Hmmm I wonder, POV Toph Beifong, Soft Zuko (Avatar), Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko Friendship, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Western Air Temple, Why was Katara SO mad at Zuko?, Zutara Drabble December 2020, and so does toph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27844312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewinkie/pseuds/ewinkie
Summary: When Zuko shows up at the Western Air temple, Toph understands everyone's hesitance. It's only natural for there to be some bad blood. But... something's funky with Zuko and Katara, and Toph thinks she knows what it is.ORToph is the only one who notices that Katara responds the same way to Zuko trying to join them, as she did to Jet in Ba Sing Se.Written for Zutara Drabble December 2020, Day 2: Please Don't Lie
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Zutara Drabble December 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038174
Comments: 14
Kudos: 109
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020, zutara (ATLA)





	Uh huh. I totally believe you.

**Author's Note:**

> Does anyone else think there was a ton of sexual tension when Katara threatened Zuko? Show of hands? No? Just me? Okay then *awkwardly puts hand down*
> 
> (and no, this isn't why I ship them, I just wanted them to kiss in that scene, and nobody seems to talk about it)

Toph Beifong (the greatest earthbender in the world, thank you very much) likes to think she knows everything. Not only can she see just as well as anyone else, but she can _feel heartbeats_. And that gives her the unique ability to tell when someone had made the very unfortunate mistake of lying to her.

It also gives her a unique insight into other people’s feelings; you can wear your face like a mask all you want, but Toph has never met anyone (except Azula, but that girl is insane, so it doesn’t really count) who could control their heartbeat.

And while it of course has what authority figures would call “practical applications,” it also has the added benefit of letting her watch drama unfold, even when the others don’t know it’s unfolding.

Take Jet in Ba Sing Se, for instance. His and Katara’s heartbeats were going through the roof when they first ran into each other, and sporadically after that. Katara’s ridiculous commitment to her grudge against him only confirmed it; those two had dated. And somehow Aang, through the haze of his blatant crush on Katara– _how_ does no one else see it–hadn’t even noticed.

Given that she has this talent, and can sense people’s feelings in this way, it’s pretty darn annoying that they all dismiss her when she _knows_ that Zuko isn’t lying. And sure, the next day, once they’ve all come to their senses, they do let Zuko into their group (which, again, they could’ve done earlier–it would’ve saved Toph those burnt feet).

When he first showed up, everyone was mad at him. Katara a bit more so than the others, but that didn’t really take priority at the moment.

But _then_ , after Sparky Sparky Boom Man (Combustion Man seems underwhelming, sorry Snoozles!) is gone, and Zuko’s asking them to join once more–much more eloquently, she might add–she notices it _again_.

Sweetness’s heart is going _much_ faster than anyone else’s. She really could be that mad at him, which is suspicious, yes, but Toph isn’t here to make assumptions (right now) about what happened before she joined. Nothing _that_ interesting could’ve happened without her there, after all.

But _then_ when asking for _her_ permission in particular to join the group, Sir Sparks-a-lot’s heart starts acting like one of those kids at Twinkletoes’ dance party. _Hmmmm_. Sure, sure, it could just be because she’s the last barrier to joining the group, but still. Consider Toph’s interest on this matter piqued.

Again, being a blind earthbender who sees with her feet has a _lot_ of perks. Walls, for example, have very little meaning when living in a temple constructed almost entirely out of stone. So, she knows that as soon as he got settled, Sugar Queen visited His Royal Flaminess in his room. And they stood _very_ close together. _And_ both of their heartbeats positively skyrocketed.

 _This oughta be fun_.

Toph is morally obliged to a) figure out what’s going on, and b) tease the both of them to shreds about it. It’s best to start sooner, rather than later.

“So, Sweetness,” Toph begins when Sugar Queen is cleaning the dishes after lunch (which Zuko offered to help with, a detail that Toph shan’t be overlooking), “how was it to get… ahem, _reacquainted_ , with Zuko?” She plasters her best smirk on her face and raises her eyebrows repeatedly to drive the point home.

Katara drops a plate. “What do you mean ‘ _reacquainted?!_ ’” she snaps. Touchy, touchy.

“ _Weeeell_. I’m just saying that your heartbeat shoots even higher than this air temple whenever he enters a room.”

“Yes. I’m mad at him, and I don’t want him hurting any of us. What of it, Toph?”

“Sure, sure. Anger. They do say there’s a fine line between hate and lo-“

“Toph!”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t go blaming _me_ for this! It’s not _my_ fault that you were standing super close him in his room with _both_ your hearts thumping like platypus bear steps. And, really your reaction to this whole thing reminds me a bit of when we ran into a certain ex-boyfriend of yours back in Ba Sing Se.”

“WHAT?!” Katara has now abandoned the dishes in favor of glaring at Toph. Jokes on her! Toph can’t even see death stares.

“Look, Sugar Queen–hey, Sugar _Queen_! Maybe if you married His Royal Sparkiness _,_ you’d be an actual queen someday!”

“Argh!” Katara screams, and stomps away, leaving the dishes there, unfinished for the first time… well, ever.

Zuko’s response to the teasing is… different, to say the least. First of all, he’s completely oblivious to her true meaning when she says, “So… you and Katara, huh?”

His heartbeat spikes at the mere mention of her name. He puts in hands in his face, then lifts his head again and says, “Ugh, I don’t know how to make it up to her. It makes sense that she’d be angry after what I did in Ba Sing Se, it’s just… Arg! I don’t _want_ her to be mad at me, even though I deserve it.”

 _Wow_. Does he know that he sounds like a character in a sappy play about romance? Eh, probably not. Still, he sounds so upset by all this that it wouldn’t be fair to tease him right now. This may be a rare moment for Toph-the-emotional-comfort-person to shine through.

“What exactly happened? I know she says you betrayed her,” she feels him wince at that, “but what did you do that pissed her off so much?”

Toph is acquainted with many different flavors of Sugar Queen’s anger, and she’s never seen her _this_ resentful. Even with Jet, she forgave him enough to heal him several times in Ba Sing Se.

Zuko sighs (seriously, this guy _should_ be in a sappy play about romance). “Well, we were both in prison together in the catacombs under the city. And at first, she just yelled at me, but then…” Another sigh. “Then we started talking about our mothers. And then, somehow the conversation turned to…” He gestures to his face.

“You started talking about… your face?” _Is Sweetness really that forward?_

“She offered to heal my scar.”

“You have a scar?! Is it gnarly and cool?”

Zuko chuckles at that. “Not exactly. It covers the entire area around my left eye. Anyways, she offered to use the spirit water to heal it-“ The _spirit water_? The only vial she had of some of the most powerful, rare stuff in the world? Wow. “–and she was standing right there,” he puts his hand _an inch_ away from his face, “and then-“

“Did you kiss her?!”

“Wha-what?! No!” Okay, well, he may not be lying, but he curls into himself and his heart beats rapidly.

“But you wanted to.” Toph states matter-of-factly.

“I–no. No, I didn’t! I mean, there’s not anything _wrong_ with her, she’s really pretty–not that that’s the only thing someone would like about her, and-“

“Don’t lie to me, Sparky. You see these feet?”

“I’m-sorry-for-burn-“

“That’s all in the past now. But I do use them to see. I can detect vibrations in the Earth. It not only tells me where everything is, but it also tells me when people’s heartbeats speed up. Which tells me when they’re _lying_.”

He puts his face in his hands and groans. Then turns to face her and mumbles, “Please don’t tell anyone.”

And Toph just cackles. She’ll keep his secret, but if he keeps being this obvious–and bad at lying, yeesh–it won’t stay a secret for long.

**Author's Note:**

> Toph: Omg I'm gonna hold this over his head, it's gonna be so funny!  
> Zuko, crying: I just want her to LIKE me, is that too much to ask?!
> 
> Thanks for readin'!
> 
> <3


End file.
